Vladimir Lavlentsev: We Create the National Heritage

Most business partners of Glavgosexpertiza of Russia are real "heavyweights" driving our country's economy. Stroytransgaz JSC is one of them. The State Expert Review Bulletin met with Stroytransgaz CEO Vladimir Lavlentsev to talk about the projects delivered by one of the most experienced construction companies in Russia and how the country's major infrastructure facilities will be built.

- Vladimir Aleksandrovich, in October one year has passed since you became CEO of Stroytransgaz JSC. What has this year brought round? What have you managed to do? And what are your plans for the future?

- The company director’s work shall be reviewed by shareholders. Stroytransgaz Group is one of the largest diversified construction holdings in the country with over 7,000 employees. Today, we have 60 ongoing projects in almost all time zones of Russia, from the Far East to Kaliningrad. Many of them, such as, for example, the construction of Moscow-Kazan highway (M-12) and large cultural & educational clusters in four regions of the country are important not only for Russia, but they are of great international importance. Stroytransgaz Group is notable for the highest level of management and expertise of line management, a flexible and efficient approach to unique projects, prudent spending of funds at all phases of design and construction of facilities, competent work with the leadership and public in the regions. I can say one thing about myself — I have expended all reasonable endeavours for these traditions to continue and multiply, so that the facilities erected by Stroytransgaz are delivered on time, cost-effective and of high quality, and the company itself develop and has a decent portfolio of orders for years to come.

- Of course, everyone’s attention is now riveted to M-12 highway. How is this road built?

- M-12 highway is the largest road construction mega-project implemented in our country. The construction of this highway is an international transport route construction project initiated by the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and supported by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin. In recent decades, two major production and consumption centres have emerged on the Eurasian continent, the European Union and Southeast Asia led by China. The Russian Federation is located between them. Such a super-favourable geopolitical position pushes Russia to create an ultra-modern reliable all-weather transport corridor between these two civilizations. The project implies the restoration of the Silk Road that connected Europe and China for more than a thousand years. The total length of the Russian part of this international corridor will be about 2,300 km. This route will definitely become a powerful catalyst for the development of all adjacent cities and small settlements.

At the end of last year, Stroytransgaz Group was appointed as the contractor for the design and construction of the first 80 km long complex section of M-12 highway (Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod – Kazan) from the intersection with A-108 (Moscow Big Ring) to the intersection with M-7 Volga highway. The highway section built at the first phase will pass through Moscow and Vladimir Regions.

- Why is the first section of M-12 highway considered to be complex?

- For Stroytransgaz, it is the first and such a long facility, there have never been such facilities yet and it is a challenge for us. It passes through densely populated areas in Moscow and Vladimir Regions. It is necessary to provide for many aspects and solutions to ensure the required level of comfort for residents of adjacent areas, traffic safety and noise protection. It will also be necessary to build two-level interchanges with local roads and 27 civil structures, including 23 bridges, three cattle passes and one underground pedestrian crossing.

- Who is involved in the construction of the road?

- We try to hire local employees in each region where Stroytransgaz operates. M-12 highway is no exception. Many workers from Moscow and Vladimir Regions are involved in its construction. We hire subject matter professionals from all regions of Russia for the jobs requiring special skills and expertise with unique equipment.

- The catch phrase "There are two problems in Russia, fools and roads" has already existed for two centuries, if not more. Do you think it is still relevant?

- I would say that the first problem put in this bitter joke is people who fail to comply with road construction technologies for some reasons. The second problem reasonably follows from the first one. And here a no less popular proverbial comes to my mind that a job cannot be equally fast, cheap and properly done. In practice, one parameter always has to be traded to "pull out" the other two... Deadlines and estimates are easily checked and monitored, so quality has been traded in road construction in Russia for decades. As a result, what we have include poor quality of many highways, roads and driveways and their never-ending repairs. Yes, it is a long-standing curse of our country.

- And yet, can they build high-quality roads in Russia?

- They can and must do it! And it is not so difficult. High-speed motorway and related engineering structure construction technologies and methods are well known and tested in many countries with weather conditions similar to Russia.

To ensure long road service life and avoid never-ending road repairs, it is enough just to properly use those technologies, equipment designed for such works and high-quality materials.

- It obviously requires additional funds...

- Yes. Almost all machines and equipment used to build highways are leased or purchased abroad, so there is currency pegging. The equipment is expensive. Spare parts and components of this equipment are also very expensive. We cannot give this equipment to unskilled workers, and a skilled professional has to be well paid. For example, we pay a road milling machine operator RUB 90,000 and at least RUB 80,000 to an asphalt paver driver for two weeks.

Construction materials is another issue. You are well aware that a real housing boom has unfolded in the country in recent months. It is wonderful! But the expected scope of construction requires huge amounts of cement, sand, crushed stone, metal... So, their price has drastically increased and gone beyond all possible estimates. There is only one arm's length way out of this situation, and it is to produce more construction materials. Unfortunately, we have not seen a supply spike in this market so far. The greater the demand, the higher the prices, that's how economy works.

As for market pricing, there are two ways to resolve this issue: to use cheaper materials and technologies, which is unacceptable, or to improve and adapt the pricing policy applicable to the construction of federal facilities of social importance to market conditions as far as practicable.

- Last summer, the top managers of major construction entities in Russia, including you, wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and raised those challenging issues...

- There are a lot of questions related to pricing in construction and they need to be resolved at the federal level as soon as possible. The President of the Russian Federation has paid attention to our problems and given appropriate instructions to the relevant ministries. I am sure that they will be resolved in the near future so that it would be beneficial for the state, business, and society as the ultimate beneficiary of our work.

- Another issue is the construction of cultural and educational complexes... Many of such construction projects in these clusters have already been reviewed by Glavgosexpertiza of Russia. At what phase are they now?

- As you know, the country’s largest cultural & educational complexes are created in Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Vladivostok and South Russia on behalf of the President. Today, the country's cultural scene is concentrated mainly in two cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is to these cities that the overwhelming majority of successful people of art and culture move. And this is understandable, as there are more opportunities to unveil your potential and gain artistic recognition in capital cities, especially in Moscow.

To revive the cultural and educational life in the regions of the country, the President decided to create those four cultural and educational complexes.

The Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi Theatres have created a special National Cultural Heritage Foundation which is the customer of this large-scale construction. Cultural & educational centres with their state-of-the-art capabilities and intellectual potential will become promising platforms for future art schools of the all-Russian scale, world class exhibition and museum complexes. They have all been designed by internationally renowned architectural firms. They have modern technical and all necessary living conditions for the development of culture and art. It will be prestigious, comfortable and profitable to perform on tour and teach in these centres, including for international opera and ballet stars.

For example, museum and theatre complex projects on Orlinoye Gnezdo Hill in Vladivostok and Kaliningrad were designed by the famous Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta. The concepts of future buildings are different and designed as memorable facilities defining the image of each city. A Russian designer, GORKA Group, is responsible for adapting the designs of future buildings to Russian conditions and standards.

The construction of educational complexes in Kemerovo, Kaliningrad and Vladivostok has now been almost completed or is near to complete. Future musicians and ballet dancers will soon live and study in these buildings.

- SKA Arena is another important construction project. What about it?

For our company, the construction of SKA Arena which will become the largest and most sophisticated ice rink in the world, is perhaps one of the most difficult and priority projects. The new ice arena will be completed in St. Petersburg by the end of 2022 and in May 2023, after certification and test matches, it will host the Ice Hockey World Championship. The parameters of the building are as follows: the total area is slightly less than 190,00 sq. m, the height is more than 50 m and the scope of construction is estimated at 1.7 million m³. The arena will be a multi-purpose complex allowing to host competitions in more than 20 sports, including track and field, basketball, rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, MMA and boxing. But, of course, ice sports, including ice hockey, figure skating, sledge hockey and short track, will be the key. For example, up to 21,500 and 23,000 people will be able to attend ice hockey matches and concerts, respectively. And between the events, the arena can be converted within no more than four hours. In addition to the main building for the world championship, an outdoor theme sports park with a festival area, a football field, basketball courts, cycling and jogging tracks and a skate park will be arranged on 12 hectares around the stadium. The schedule is extremely tight for a facility of this level and scale, but we initially understood that it would not change, so the entire team that is now jointly working on design documents and involved in the construction itself shares one goal. By the way, facade designs were proposed by the Austrian architectural firm COOPHIMMELB(l)AU, an internationally recognized disciple of constructivism. We also successfully cooperate with our colleagues as part of the museum and theatre project in Kemerovo. Just recently, in early October, the founder and director of this firm, Wolf Prix, personally visited the construction site in St. Petersburg and was very inspired by what he saw and highly appreciated the progress.

- These projects only are a huge world requiring massive efforts, knowledge and experience to create it. How does Stroytransgaz manage to cope with these and many other tasks?

- The management system of Stroytransgaz and all departments of the company is based on the best and most advanced management principles. Corporate decision-making processes, delegation of responsibilities, document management, accounting and taxation processes are almost entirely automated. All construction sites are equipped with 24/7 CCTVs. At the same time, I have a rule: trust everyone, but always cut the cards. I regularly visit all key construction sites of the company and monitor the developments. It is not easy.

We have a very large country and, as I noted before, the company’s construction sites are located everywhere from the Far East to Kaliningrad. We are strong together with our team and partners. We are building the future.

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